The Waltham-Lowell system pioneered the use of a
vertically integrated system. Here the owner/managers had complete control over all aspects of production.
Spinning,
weaving,
dyeing, and cutting were now completed in a single plant. This high degree of control prevented another company from any interference with production. The Waltham mill also pioneered the process of
mass production, which greatly increased the scale of manufacturing. Water-powered
line shafts and
belts connected hundreds of
power lines. The increase in manufacturing occurred so rapidly that there was no localized labor supply in the early 19th century that could have sufficed. Lowell solved this problem by hiring young women, typically from rural areas and small towns.
Waltham After the successes of Samuel Slater, a group of investors called
The Boston Associates and led by
Newburyport, Massachusetts merchant
Francis Cabot Lowell devised a new textile operation on the
Charles River in
Waltham, Massachusetts, west of
Boston. This firm was the first in the nation to place cotton-to-cloth production under one roof, incorporated as the
Boston Manufacturing Company in 1814. The Boston Associates tried to create a controlled system of labor, unlike the harsh conditions that they observed while in
Lancashire, England. The owners recruited young New England farm girls from the surrounding area to work the machines at Waltham. The mill girls lived in company boarding houses and were subject to strict codes of conduct and supervised by older women. They worked about 80 hours a week. Six days per week, they woke to the factory bell at 4:40 a.m. and reported to work at 5 before a half-hour breakfast break at 7. They worked until a lunch break of 30 to 45 minutes around noon. The workers returned to their company houses at 7 p.m. when the factory closed. This system became known as the Waltham System.
Lowell The
Boston Manufacturing Company proved immensely profitable, but the
Charles River had little potential as a power source.
Francis Cabot Lowell died prematurely in 1817, and soon his partners traveled north of Boston to East
Chelmsford, Massachusetts, where the large
Merrimack River could provide far more power. The first mills formed the
Merrimack Manufacturing Company and were running by 1823. The settlement was incorporated as the town of Lowell in 1826 and became the
city of Lowell ten years later. It boasted ten textile corporations, all running on the Waltham System and each considerably larger than the Boston Manufacturing Company. Lowell became one of the largest cities in New England. The model became known as the Lowell System; it was copied elsewhere in New England, often in other mill towns developed by Boston Associates. ==Decline==